HERMES Prerequisites

This Prerequisites guide is intended for on-premise customers who are installing ASM HERMES (v10.6) on their own infrastructure.

Below are the current Prerequisites for the latest release. The pages that follow provide additional information and tips to get you started. This Prerequisites guide is intended for on-premise customers who are installing ASM Hermes(v10.6) on their own infrastructure. The ASM HERMES Installation will check for and configure the Prerequisite MS Windows Server Features and Additional Requirements as part of the Installation/Upgrade process:

If your site has a large volume of data, you should consider using hardware with a higher specification.

You can use virtual machines to run your ASM System if the guest operating system is supported by Alemba® and the virtual machine vendor.

Virtual directories must be configured correctly to ensure the smooth upgrade of .NET to 4.5.2 or above. An incorrectly configured virtual directory will not appear in the Alemba Service Manager™ Server Console or the server registry, and therefore .NET will not upgrade automatically.

The ASM HERMES Installation will check for and configure the Prerequisite MS Windows Server Features and Additional Requirements as part of the Installation/Upgrade process.

Application Server O/S Requirements

We recommend that you install Alemba Service Manager™ on a separate server to the database server.

Operating System:

Windows Server 2019

Windows Server 2022

We do not support upgrading Windows Server. Instead, we recommend that you always create a new machine when you change operating system.

Dashboards

For improved performance, we recommend that you have a separate Application Server for dashboards. For more information, see Dashboards prerequisites checklist.

You must also install the Dashboard SDK software on the same Application Server as Alemba Service Manager™.

Additional considerations:

  • Ensure that the CPUs are not over-committed.

  • We recommend optimizing the web server for background service performance.

  • If required, you can configure multiple web servers under a load-balancer.

    Contact Alemba® Support regarding the best configuration for your requirements.

  • To access the ASM System from the server, install a supported web browser – see Client requirements for more information.

    Otherwise, access the ASM System from a client computer using a supported web browser.

  • If you use Unicode databases, install the relevant language packs associated with any non-English characters that your Analysts use.

    This ensures that the indexing service on the web server performs indexing correctly.

Application Server Hardware Requirements

Additional considerations:

Database Server O/S and Account Requirements

  • We recommend that you install the database on a separate dedicated server.

  • Alemba® only provides limited support for SQL Server editions that are no longer under Microsoft Mainstream Support.

  • Alemba® RapidStart database is only supported under SQL Server 2019 (64-bit) and higher.

  • Alemba® does not support SQL Server Express editions.

Supported versions:

Additional requirements:

Database user account permissions

For installations where a new SQL Server database is used, we recommend that you create a single database user account for administering the ASM database and performing operations such as running upgrade scripts on the database. You can restrict this database user account to access the ASM database only.

You can set up a script to create a database user account and apply permissions. See Using a script to configure the database user accounts for more information.

Configuring a new database user account:

If you are using NT authentication to log into the ASM database, you must use the NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM account.

  • db_datawriter

  • db_datareader

  • db_ddladmin

  • db_owner

  • VIEW DATABASE STATE

  • VIEW DEFINITION

  • sysadmin fixed server role

  • db_datareader role

  • VIEW SERVER STATE, which enables access to the dm_db_index_usage_stats table

  • VIEW DATABASE STATE

  • VIEW DEFINITION

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation

The Statistics Tool and Alemba API use these permissions to synchronize the cache between API instances, Alemba Service Manager™, and anything else which might use the database.

Configuring an existing database user account:

Before running the Upgrade MSI, if you are using NT authentication, ensure that the NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM account has system administrator permissions to the database server so that the upgrade can complete successfully.

For existing databases, you should continue to use the database user account that was used during database creation. Ensure that your database and Master database user accounts have the permissions and roles listed above for creating a new database user account.

Alemba® recommends consulting with your database administrator if you wish to change the database owner to a new account that can perform ordinary operations to the database as well as administrative operations, as you will need to manually change the database owner of all tables.

Email Protocols

  • Incoming Email: MS GRAPH API,EWS, POP3, IMAP

  • Outgoing Email: MS GRAPH API, EWS, SMTP

If you are using POP3/IMAP/SMTP/EWL over SSL, ensure your web server can communicate with your POP3/IMAP/SMTP/EWS server. MAPI protocol is no longer supported as a protocol for Incoming/Outgoing Email

POP3/IMAP & SMTP only Support Basic Authentication Protocol. Note this has been deprecated by most email providers.

Other email servers like Novell GroupWise and IBM Lotus Notes are untested and not supported but may also work, as long as one of the supported email protocols is used.

Browser Requirements

Supported browsers are:

  • Chrome (latest Version)

  • MS Edge (latest Version)

  • Firefox (latest Version)

  • Safari (latest Version)

Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer is now out of support by Microsoft and is no longer a supported browser for accessing ASM v10 (Core, Nano or Portal)

Configuring your browser locale for Google Chrome

If the date and time are displaying incorrectly in your Google Chrome Browser browser, you may need to change the browser locale settings on each client machine. Unlike browsers that fetch the locale from the local machine settings, Google Chrome locale settings are configured during installation. You may need to restart the browser to see your changes.

Networking

The network location of the database server to the Alemba Service Manager™ server will impact performance. In your system design, you must consider network switching and firewall configurations. While Alemba® are not responsible for your system performance and can only provide very limited guidance in this area, we can recommend third-party consultants to provide specialist advice.

Multi-Language Translation

Required when on-demand translation is enabled for Multi-Language.

Visit the Pricing page for Microsoft's Cognitive Service - Translator Text.

Active Directory /User Directory Connectors

Active Directory supported versions:

  • Microsoft Active Directory 2016

  • Microsoft Active Directory 2019

  • Azure AD

PowerShell supported versions:

  • PowerShell v5.0

Multiple other connectors are also supported.

User directory servers

Alemba® supports the following directory servers for Alemba Service Manager™:

  • Azure AD

  • Microsoft Active Directory2019

  • Microsoft Active Directory2016

Best Practice

Configure a "Test" ASM System

We recommend you separate your production and test environment by installing the test environment on a separate web server or virtual machine. A separate test environment ensures the integrity of any Alemba Service Manager™ upgrades or customizations before you apply them in the production environment.

Infrastructure map

The following is an example of the infrastructure relationships of a standard implementation of Alemba Service Manager™.

This diagram could differ significantly, depending on your internal infrastructure requirements and datacenter landscape.

Dashboard Application Server

The Syncfusion Dashboard Platform is installed separately from Alemba Service ManagerTM software. It is recommended that the dashboard software be hosted on a separate Application Server.

If your site has a large volume of data, you should consider using hardware with a higher specification.

We do not support upgrading Windows Server. Instead, we recommend that you always create a new machine when you change operating system.

Minimum Hardware Requirements

Additional considerations

  • Ensure that the CPUs are not over-committed.

  • We recommend optimizing the web server for background service performance.

  • It is advisable to install a supported web browser (eg Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, etc) on the application server.

Dashboard Database Server

We recommend that you install the dashboard database on a separate dedicated server from the ASM database to improve performance. If the Dashboard database is installed on the same server as the ASM database, it must have its own database and schema.

  • Alemba does not support SQL Server Express editions.

  • Alemba RapidStart database is only supported under SQL Server 2019 (64-bit)

  • Alemba only provides limited support for SQL Server editions that are no longer under Microsoft Mainstream Support.

Supported versions:

Minimum hardware requirements:

Dashboard DB User Account Permissions

For installations where a new SQL Server database is used, we recommend that you create a single database user account for administering the Dashboards database and performing operations such as running upgrade scripts on the database. You can restrict this database user account to access the Dashboard database only.

Minimum required Server Roles and user mappings for the Dashboard Server and User

Minimum Required Permissions for the SQL Server Data Sources

Intermediate Server (Target Server)

Data Source (Source Server)

We recommend consulting your database administrator if you wish to change the database owner to a new account that can perform ordinary operations to the database as well as administrative operations, as you will need to manually change the database owner of all tables.

Dashboard Networking

The network location of the database server to the Dashboards server to the Alemba Service ManagerTM server will impact performance. In your system design, you must consider network switching and firewall configurations. While Alemba® are not responsible for your system performance and can only provide very limited guidance in this area, we can recommend third-party consultants to provide specialist advice.

Dashboards SMTP Server

Email Protocol for Outgoing Email: SMTP

The Dashboard software uses SMTP for sending scheduled dashboards and reports.

If you are using SMTP over SSL, ensure your web server can communicate with your SMTP server.

Configuring Windows Server 2019 for Alemba Service Manager

As part of the Install script, the following will be installed automatically:

  • Windows features

The following packages are downloaded and installed automatically. You may opt out of this step, but you must then assume responsibility for installing these packages before beginning the Eos installation

  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package

  • ASP.NET Core 5.0 and Core 6.0 Windows Hosting Bundle

  • .NET 6

    Please refer to the ASM Installation Guide for the version you are installing for further Information on the Installation process.

Configuring Windows Server 2022 for Alemba Service Manager

As part of the Install script, the following will be installed automatically:

  • Windows features

The following packages are downloaded and installed automatically. You may opt out of this step, but you must then assume responsibility for installing these packages before beginning the Eos installation

  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package

  • ASP.NET Core 5.0 and Core 6.0 Windows Hosting Bundle

  • .NET 6

    Please refer to the ASM Installation Guide for the version you are installing for further Information on the Installation process.

Using a Script to Configure Database User Accounts

You can use the script below to create the database user account and apply the relevant permissions for your ASM database and Master database. The comments indicate the commands that are executed at each stage of the script, so you may choose to use only part of the script if you are working with existing logins.

The script uses the following variables:

  • [LOGIN_NAME] – the SQL Server login name, for example VFIRE_LOGIN

  • [Password1] – the SQL Server login password

  • [DATABASE_NAME] – the ASM database name

  • [USER_NAME] – the ASM database user that is applied to the SQL Server login, for example VFIRE_USER

--The following creates the SQL Server login account, with the ASM database set as the default database. Do not use spaces in the login name. The password must contain at least 8 characters, including at least one number and an uppercase letter.

USE [MASTER]; GO
CREATE LOGIN [LOGIN_NAME] WITH PASSWORD = '[Password1]', DEFAULT_DATABASE = [DATABASE_NAME]
GO
ALTER SERVER ROLE [sysadmin] ADD MEMBER [LOGIN_NAME] GO

--The following creates the user account [USER_NAME] for the ASM database 

Use [DATABASE_NAME];
GO
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.database_principals WHERE NAME = N'[USER_NAME]')
BEGIN
CREATE USER [USER_NAME] FOR LOGIN [LOGIN_NAME]

--The following makes [USER_NAME] a member of the db_owner, db_datawriter, db_ datareader and db_ddladmin groups

EXEC sp_addrolemember N'db_owner', N'[USER_NAME]' EXEC sp_addrolemember N'db_datawriter', N'[USER_NAME]' EXEC sp_addrolemember N'db_datareader', N'[USER_NAME]' EXEC sp_addrolemember N'db_ddladmin', N'[USER_NAME]'
END; GO

--The following grants [USER_NAME] the minimum permissions for the database

GRANT VIEW DATABASE STATE TO [USER_NAME]; GRANT VIEW DEFINITION TO [USER_NAME]

--The following creates the Alemba Service ManagerTM user account for the Master database

USE [MASTER]; GO
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.database_principals WHERE NAME = N'[USER_NAME]')
BEGIN
CREATE USER [USER_NAME] FOR LOGIN [LOGIN_NAME]
EXEC sp_addrolemember N'db_datareader', N'[USER_NAME]'
END;

--The following grants [USER_NAME] minimum permissions for the Master database

GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE TO [USER_NAME]
GRANT VIEW DATABASE STATE TO [USER_NAME] GRANT VIEW DEFINITION TO [USER_NAME] GRANT EXEC ON MASTER.DBO.XP_REGREAD TO [USER_NAME]
GO